Programming a packet processing pipeline

Abstract

Examples described herein relate to a packet processing device that includes a programmable packet processing pipeline that is configured using a virtual switch. In some examples, the programmable packet processing pipeline is to receive configurations from multiple control planes via the virtual switch to configure packet processing actions. In some examples, the virtual switch is to provide inter-virtual execution environment communications. In some examples, the programmable packet processing pipeline is configured using a programming language.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, that if executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:
 perform a virtual switch to provide configurations from multiple control planes to configure packet processing actions to be performed by a programmable pipeline of a packet processing device, wherein the virtual switch is to provide inter-virtual execution environment communications and wherein the programmable pipeline is configured using a programming language.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual switch is consistent with Open vSwitch, VPP, or Stratum. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein a programming language of at least one of the multiple control planes comprises Openflow and the programming language comprises one or more of: Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors (P4), C, Python, Broadcom Network Programming Language (NPL), Linux eBPF, or x86 compatible executable binaries or other executable binaries. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , comprising instructions stored thereon, that if executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:
 receive a configuration of table entry format and   configure the programmable pipeline with at least one configuration from one or more of the multiple control planes in a format consistent with the received table entry format.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple control planes comprise two or more of: a virtual switch controller, runtime server for the programmable pipeline, or kernel controller. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the virtual switch controller configures the programmable pipeline with header field value matches and association action(s) related to one or more of: port selection, enabling of packet mirroring, or VXLAN utilization. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the runtime server for the programmable pipeline configures the programmable pipeline with header field value matches and association actions related to one or more of: tunnels, mirroring, security group, connection tracking, forwarding, sampling of a flow to determine statistics, or link aggregation group (LAG). 
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the kernel controller configures the programmable pipeline with one or more of: routing determination and tunneling. 
     
     
         9 . The at least one computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the packet processing device comprises one or more of: a network interface controller (NIC), a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled NIC, SmartNIC, router, switch, forwarding element, infrastructure processing unit (IPU), or data processing unit (DPU). 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus comprising:
 a packet processing device comprising a programmable packet processing pipeline that is configured using a virtual switch, wherein:   the programmable packet processing pipeline is to receive configurations from multiple control planes via the virtual switch to configure packet processing actions,   the virtual switch is to provide inter-virtual execution environment communications, and   the programmable packet processing pipeline is configured using a programming language.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the virtual switch is consistent with Open vSwitch, VPP, or Stratum. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein a programming language of at least one of the multiple control planes comprises Openflow and the programming language comprises one or more of: Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors (P4), C, Python, Broadcom Network Programming Language (NPL), Linux eBPF, or x86 compatible executable binaries or other executable binaries. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the multiple control planes comprise two or more of: a virtual switch controller, runtime server for the programmable packet processing pipeline, or kernel controller. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the virtual switch controller configures the programmable packet processing pipeline with header field value matches and association action(s) related to one or more of: port selection, enabling of packet mirroring, or VXLAN utilization. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the runtime server for the programmable packet processing pipeline configures the programmable packet processing pipeline with header field value matches and association actions related to one or more of: tunnels, mirroring, security group, connection tracking, forwarding, sampling of a flow to determine statistics, or link aggregation group (LAG). 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the kernel controller configures the programmable packet processing pipeline with one or more of: routing determination and tunneling. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , comprising a server that is to execute the virtual switch, wherein the server is communicatively coupled to the packet processing device. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , comprising a data center that comprises the server and a second packet processing device, wherein the packet processing device is to transmit packets processed by the programmable packet processing pipeline to the second packet processing device. 
     
     
         19 . A method comprising:
 programming a programmable packet processing pipeline of a packet processing device using a virtual switch by multiple control planes.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein a programming language of at least one of the multiple control planes comprises Openflow and the programming language comprises one or more of: Programming Protocol-independent Packet Processors (P4), C, Python, Broadcom Network Programming Language (NPL), Linux eBPF, or x86 compatible executable binaries or other executable binaries.